First 2026 Mock Draft! Plus Big Coaching News (01/07 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today Podcast Summary

Episode: First 2026 Mock Draft! Plus Big Coaching News
Date: January 7, 2026
Hosts: Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg
Main Theme:
A comprehensive discussion of the first mock draft for the 2026 fantasy football season, along with analysis of major coaching changes and their fantasy implications.

---

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the very first 2026 fantasy football mock draft—strategies, notable picks, and league format debates—while breaking down huge NFL coaching changes and what they mean for fantasy. Adam, Dave, and Jamie share early draft trends, discuss player value, and debate optimal league setups for less luck and more skill.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mock Draft Introduction and League Format Ideas

• Adam introduces their 2026 mock draft results ([01:59])
  • Notable early picks: Jamar Chase, Bijan Robinson, George Pickens, Rico Dowdle, Cam Scatterboo.
  • Quarterbacks fell further than usual (e.g., Jalen Hurts in the 10th round).
  • Adam doubles down on his AJ Brown-to-Bills trade prediction.
• Ideal Fantasy Format Proposal ([04:05])
  • Adam proposes a 13-week regular season, four-week playoff (weeks 14-17), with two-week fantasy championships and unique “no-matchup” rounds where two highest scorers advance.
  • Adds “apex scoring” and ensures highest season scorer guarantees a playoff berth.
• Panel Reactions ([05:31])
  • Dave feels removing head-to-head matchups in playoffs is "a little weird."
  • Jamie and Adam discuss flexibility in league formats, hint at changes for their dynasty league.

Notable Quote:
"The most important thing is two-week fantasy championship, four-week total playoff, no matchups in the first two rounds… You're welcome."
— Adam ([05:15])

---

2. Big Coaching and NFL News

• Quarterback Updates ([06:35])
  • Jets head coach not committing to Justin Fields’ future.
  • Falcons restructure Kirk Cousins’ contract.
  • Russell Wilson admitted playing with a torn hamstring in 2025, which Adam calls "ridiculous" ([06:53]).
• Malik Neighbors Injury Concerns ([07:34])
  • Ongoing complicated recovery, using a cane last week.
  • Jamie: “It’s too soon to make a determination one way or the other.” ([07:53])
  • Dave: “If he’s not with the team on the field when training camp starts… maybe he shouldn’t be a second round pick.” ([07:57])
• Major Coaching Changes ([09:26])
  • John Harbaugh out in Baltimore.
  • Cliff Kingsbury out in Washington.
  • Pete Carroll out in Las Vegas.
  • Other coordinator/HC openings in Detroit and Arizona.
• Ideal Coaching Hires & Fantasy Impact ([10:24])
  • Jamie discusses best fits for Giants (Harbaugh/Stafanski/McCarthy).
  • Adam: Harbaugh is "so clearly the best candidate here" but notes rumors of him losing the locker room.
  • Dave and Jamie agree the Ravens is now the best open job, could prompt additional surprise openings.

Notable Quote:
"Any coach that’s out there would love to go to Baltimore. I think Harbaugh going on the market might open up another head coaching opportunity..."
— Dave ([13:38])

Notable Quote:
"You might think of John Harbaugh as a 'run the ball, defensive-minded' guy, but before the Lamar Jackson era, the Ravens led the NFL in pass attempts. He’s got a history of both styles."
— Adam ([15:21])

---

3. Wild Card Injury Updates ([17:55])

• Lane Johnson (Eagles OT) questionable.
• Kyler Gordon (Bears) may return.
• DJ Moore (Bears) and Romo Dunes A (Bears) both questionable.
• Terence Ferguson (Rams TE) misses practice; Tyler Higby is a free agent.

---

4. 2026 Mock Draft Strategies

Draft Approaches and Early Insights ([18:13])

• Jamie: Targeted "young breakouts" after establishing a core lineup ([18:28]).
• Dave: In a three-receiver, full-PPR league, prioritized WR but flexible; reinforced why mock drafts are vital for evolving strategies ([18:47]).
• Adam: Tried to secure “workhorse” RBs, especially after a frustrating 2025 RB landscape, but acknowledges the risk of ignoring WR ([20:02]).

Interesting Draft Choices ([24:43])

• George Pickens: 24th overall (late 2nd round).
  • Jamie: “I think it’s great.” ([25:03])
• Rico Dowdle: early 3rd round.
  • Dave: “Arguably the worst pick... ever.” ([25:10])
• Cam Scatterboo and Luther Burden at 3/4 turn.
  • Dave admits in retrospect he’d "have taken Scatterboo over McMillan." ([25:36])

---

5. Draft Position Debates: RB vs WR

• Adam's RB priority:
  • Devon HN and Omarion Hampton, his top-8 RBs, with first two picks ([20:37]).
  • Recognizes risk as his WRs “might stink”: T. Higgins, Cortland Sutton, Romo Dunes A ([21:07]).
• Jamie: Picked talent over position first, adjusted for WR need in round four ([22:26]).
• Dave: “Hero RB” (Jonathan Taylor in late round 1), then three straight WRs. ([23:10])
• QB values: Jalen Hurts falls to round 10; Josh Allen as first QB in round 4 ([24:01], [28:49]).

---

6. Players with Injury Risk or Situational Uncertainty

• Adam avoids players off major injuries, except for special circumstances like Rasheed Rice ([26:53]).
• Consensus: Historical precedent shows many don’t return to full value immediately.

---

7. Detailed Draft Board Analysis with Timestamps

Round 1 ([30:10]):

Jamar Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, Puka Nakua, JSN, Christian McCaffrey, Devon HN, Amon-Ra St. Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Malik Neighbors, Jonathan Taylor, James Cook.

• Neighbors is the only surprising pick for some, given injury questions.
• Panel agrees Pickens, Lamb, and other WRs will spark rank debates.

Round 2 ([31:17])

Notables: Drake London, Rasheed Rice, Trey McBride, Justin Jefferson, Omarion Hampton, Nico Collins, Brock Bowers, Josh Jacobs, Devante Adams, AJ Brown, George Pickens.

• Jamie: Happy to start Bijan and AJ Brown in first two rounds.
• Dave: Running backs "could easily be pushed up" in future mocks. ([41:19])

Round 3 ([45:24])

Notables: Derrick Henry, Chase Brown, Rico Dowdle, Saquon Barkley, RJ Harvey, T. Higgins, Bucky Irving, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Tederell McMillan, Cam Scatterboo.

• Debate over placement of uncertain RBs like Harvey and Henderson.
• Wide receivers after the RB stretch are “risky” but could be great if healthy: Higgins, Wilson, Olave.

Round 4-5 ([55:00]-[61:19])

• Burden, Jameson Williams, Travis Etienne, McConkey, Breece Hall, Sutton, Allen, Kyren Williams, Waddle, Metcalf, Marvin Harrison Jr., Javonte Williams.
• On taking QBs: Dave and Jamie stress deep value later, and Adam calls Josh Allen "the safest player in fantasy." ([58:27])

Tight End Value Discussion ([61:19])

• George Kittle, Colston Loveland, Harold Fannin Jr., Tucker Kraft, Tyler Warren, Kyle Pitts, Sam LaPorta debated for round 5-7 value.
  • Kittle: Jamie 8.5/10, Dave 10/10 ([63:32]).
  • LaPorta in round 7: hosts less enthusiastic due to injury concerns.

Notable Quote:
"If you're risk averse, you're not going to draft Cam Scatterboo… I'm more interested now than I was when we did this draft."
— Dave ([50:28])

---

8. Team Draft Recaps ([69:08])

• Jamie (Pick 2):

  • QB: Matthew Stafford (late pick)
  • RB: Bijan Robinson, Chase Brown
  • WR: Marvin Harrison Jr., Ameka Buka, AJ Brown
  • Flex: Zach Charbonnet
  • TE: Tyler Warren
    Bench Highlights: Charbonnet, Ramondre Stevenson, Kyle Williams

• Adam (Pick 7):

  • QB: Joe Burrow
  • RB: Devon HN, Omarion Hampton
  • WR: Higgins, Sutton, Odunze
  • Flex: Woody Marks
  • TE: Sam LaPorta Bench Highlights: Jalen Wright, Troy Franklin

• Dave (Pick 11):

  • QB: Justin Herbert (round 12)
  • RB: Jonathan Taylor, Ken Walker
  • WR: Rasheed Rice, Tedro McMillan, Jameson Williams, Tyreek Hill
  • TE: Harold Fannin Jr. Bench Highlights: Jakori Krosky-Merritt, Jonathan Brooks, Isaiah Likely

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Round 10, but hot take, I think AJ Brown gonna get traded to the Bills." — Adam ([02:24])
• "I just avoided players coming off significant injuries… these guys are often not the same." — Adam ([27:26])
• "Arguably the worst pick in the draft ever." — Dave on Rico Dowdle in the third round ([25:10])
• "You want to target teams with explosive offenses and bad defenses… that's what you should look for from teams moving forward." — Dave ([38:21])
• "This is why we mock draft… It helps." — Dave ([18:47])
• "If you have convictions on players, do it." — Jamie ([25:36])

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ideal Fantasy Format Proposal: [04:05]
• Malik Neighbors Injury Debate: [07:34]
• Coaching Carousel Deep-Dive: [09:26]-[15:21]
• Wild Card Injury Updates: [17:55]
• Mock Draft Intro & Strategies: [18:13]-[23:10]
• Interesting Draft Picks: [24:43]-[26:45]
• Injury Risk – Draft Approaches: [26:53]-[28:07]
• Full Draft Board & Positional Debates: [30:10]-[55:00]
• Tight End Value: [61:19]-[67:09]
• Team Recaps: [69:08]-[75:58]

---

Podcast Tone & Language

The hosts maintain an energetic, friendly, and occasionally self-deprecating tone, joking about their own picks, ribbing each other about dynasty and redraft tendencies, and playfully calling some picks “the worst ever.”

---

In Summary

This episode is packed with actionable insights for 2026 fantasy football drafts, including early lessons from the first mock draft, new strategies for league formats, and sharp takes on the changing NFL coaching landscape. The panel debates RB/WR value, how to handle injured players, and early tight end targets, all while previewing how off-season changes may move the needle for player value. All fantasy footballers—from major strategists to casual drafters—will find these insights and discussions invaluable for planning their upcoming season.

Transcript

[Adam]

Life insurance. It is such an important thing to have. I carry a lot of responsibility in my household, and if something happened to me, there are real consequences like mortgage payments and everyday bills that don't just disappear. That's why I recommend life insurance through Ethos. Ethos makes getting life insurance fast and easy and 100% online. You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same day coverage.

[Dave]

And.

[Adam]

And there's no medical exam. You just answer a few simple health questions. You can get up to $3 million in coverage. Some policies are as low as $30 a month. As of March 2025, Business Insider named Ethos the number one no medical exam instant life insurance provider. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Now by going to ethos.comfft in as little as 10 minutes, you can. You can get your free quote and up to $3,000,000 in coverage at ethos.comfft that is E T H O S.comfft ethos.comfft application times and rates may vary. Hey, Sal.

[Dave]

Hank.

[Adam]

What's going on?

[Dave]

We haven't worked a case in years.

[Adam]

I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.

[Dave]

Too easy.

[Jamie]

Think something's up?

[Dave]

You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and.

[Adam]

It got delivered the next day.

[Dave]

It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.

[Adam]

Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

[Dave]

This is Fantasy Football TODAY from CBS Sports. What a play. Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays at his feet. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Adam]

Our first mock draft for 2026 has been completed. Who went first overall? Was it Jamar Chase? Was it Bijan Robinson? We'll tell you in a little bit. That's going to be the second part. Where did George Pickens go? He went pretty early. Rico Dowdle went pretty early. Cam Scatterboo went pretty early. The quarterbacks did not. Jalen Hurt. Oh, my gosh. When did Jalen hurts go? The 10th round or something?

[Dave]

Yes.

[Adam]

It was insane.

[Dave]

You can believe that.

[Adam]

Round 10, but hot take. I think AJ Brown gonna get traded to the Bills. I said that a few months ago. I'm gonna stick by that. He's gonna be on the Bills and then we'll see where Jalen hurts goes when A.J. brown's on the Bills.

[Jamie]

Anyway.

[Adam]

How's your off season going, guys?

[Dave]

Wonderful. Feels the same as the season.

[Adam]

Oh, come on. No way.

[Dave]

Yeah, I've been digging into the playoff games and trying to find edges and angles on, you know, where to go with playoff lineups now.

[Adam]

Yeah. Imagine the week. Imagine week 17 had six games. Come on. Doesn't feel like. Right.

[Dave]

So it's a little bit easier to get through every game.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I think I've written the same amount of stuff.

[Adam]

Really well.

[Jamie]

I'm writing all of the rank stories. I have a mock draft review to write after this. Okay. Okay. Some drafts, some playoff preview stuff.

[Adam]

All right, so a couple of housekeeping things here. First of all, if you want to vote for our superlatives, those are now posted on our Facebook page. Find fantasy football today on Facebook. You can vote for mvp, biggest bust waiver wire player of the year and comeback player of the year. So that's on our Facebook page. And oh, I think I've got my ideal fantasy football format. I want to do this with all my leagues. Are you ready? This is it. We're going to tre. This is going to be. You're going to go. Yeah, that makes sense. This is the best way to do it and it's going to start trending and we're going to, we're going to set the tone for the rest of the, of the fantasy world. This is what we're going to do. Going to try our best to eliminate luck whenever possible. We're going to end the season a week earlier. So 13 week regular season, four weeks of playoffs. 14, 15, 16, 17, first round of the playoffs. Let's say it's a 12 team league. Six teams make the playoffs first round, two teams have a buy and tops the other four teams are in. No matchups. Two highest scorers advance. Next week we got four teams left. No matchups, two highest scoring teams advance. Last two weeks, your fantasy championship. It's a two week playoff. But we don't touch week 18 if you, you need to know why. Just look at the lineups in week 18. Pathetic. So that's how we're doing it. Do we want to do apex scoring? Maybe. Good. Think about that. That's where you get a point. If you win your matchup each week, you also you get your win. If you win your matchup each week, you also get a win if you finish in the top half of your league. So you can go 2, 0, 1 and 1 or 0 and 2 each week. And the other thing is if you score the most Points, you are guaranteed a playoff spot. Highest score, even if the highest score finishes seventh or lower, you're getting in the playoffs. And there we go. That's how we're doing it.

[Dave]

So you're going to have two divisions.

[Adam]

It doesn't really matter.

[Dave]

You can then just have one division of 12 and the top six point scorers are your playoff teams. I still like to bother with the records.

[Adam]

You could do that. Most important thing is two week fantasy championship. Four week total playoff. No matchups in the first two rounds of the playoffs. You're welcome. Okay, how do we feel about that? Will you guys want to co sign on this?

[Dave]

So the first thing that I don't like is that if you're, if you're going to have head to head matchups during the regular season and then you just eliminate them in the playoffs. That seems a little weird.

[Adam]

Well, you do have head to head matchups. You just have to finish top two out of four. I mean if you're not going one.

[Dave]

On one, I mean. But it's not because I could play you. You could score 200 points. I score 180. I lose, but I win. Yeah, I'm the Carolina Panthers.

[Jamie]

All right.

[Adam]

Dave doesn't like it. I like it. I'm good with it. Why are we all wearing gray today? It's that kind of day. All right. You all think about it. That's how we're, that's how the Azer leagues are going to work.

[Dave]

Represents your idea for fantasy playoffs.

[Jamie]

How many leagues do you commission?

[Dave]

Too many.

[Jamie]

Four. Four. And one of those is dynasty league. So you're not going to change that one.

[Adam]

I don't see why we can't change that league. Why not?

[Jamie]

I guess you can.

[Adam]

Yeah. Although I may not be ruined that league.

[Jamie]

Enough already.

[Adam]

Spoiler alert. I may not be the commissioner for much longer. All right, let's get to our news and notes here. So quarterback, quick quarterback note. Aaron Glenn. Jets head coach didn't commit to Justin Fields returning. He said he's under contract. We expect some changes there they the second pick in the draft and the 16.

[Dave]

They're cutting him.

[Adam]

The Falcons restructured Kirk Cousins contract so they're going to have a decision on him by March 13th. We'll see what they do with Kirk Cousins. This one really, really bothered me. Russell Wilson said he played through a torn hamstring which he hurt just before his 450 yard game against the Cowboys and he didn't tell the team. He couldn't tell the team. He said and that really pissed me off. Dude, you can't be playing hurt. You should have told the team. That's so selfish.

[Jamie]

Why? He helped your draft stock.

[Adam]

Ridiculous. Also, Malik Neighbors went in the first round in the draft that we did on, on Tuesday. He is. This is complicated. Ok?

[Dave]

He.

[Adam]

I don't know what the timeline is going to be. None of us know right now, but this was not, you know, an easy surgery. There's. This is a complicated knee issue. He was using a cane last week, so. I don't know, guys. I, I don't even think you should be a top 12 receiver right now. Is that too hot of a take?

[Jamie]

I think it's too soon to make a determination one way or the other.

[Dave]

There's nothing wrong with moving them down your rank list until you see him practicing. I think everybody would agree with you that if he's not with the team on the field when training camp starts six or seven months from now that he. That he should not be. Maybe not even a second round pick.

[Adam]

We don't know exactly what it was. Was it ACL and meniscus? Was it ACL and another cl. But correct me if I'm wrong, most people who have a torn ACL in week four are further along in the process than Malik Neighbors is now.

[Jamie]

Right. I mean, obviously every surgery and every tear is probably not the same. You know, there's a lot of similarities, I'm sure, with how the process goes. But you know, the recovery could be different for everybody. I mean, you remember Adrian Peterson, how quickly he came back and was. Was fine. You know, he's probably the poster child of quick returns to amazing production. Trying to think of some of the ACL tears that we had this year. You know, Brandon Iuk didn't return at all. Christian Watson was back after a relatively soon amount of time. Got hurt in Week 18 last year, was playing by Week 7. You know, so there's no, I think rhyme or reason to, you know, the exact timeline. But yes, it's not ideal that he's still not further along in the process. Okay. Like for Mahomes, for example. Like that's why he wanted to have his surgery right away so that he can get the rehab process starting as soon as possible.

[Adam]

Yeah, yeah, right. Just obviously this is a more complicated recovery than, than just the run of the mill ACL tear from religion neighbors. All right, let's get to the head coaching and offensive coordinator news. John Harbaugh out in Baltimore, Cliff Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, Joe Whitt Jr. Out in Washington, Pete Carroll out in Las Vegas, offensive coordinator John Morton out in Detroit, and Jonathan Gannon, head coach of Arizona. He got fired as well. So Jamie, we've got Baltimore, we got the Washington coordinators, we got Las Vegas, we got the Detroit offensive coordinator, we got Arizona. They have openings now. Pretty big news, especially with Harbaugh. What's your take on all of this?

[Jamie]

Well, let me ask you this because everybody wants the Giants job apparently. My guess is the top three candidates right now would be Harbaugh. For everybody but Harbaugh, Stefanski and McCarthy. How do you rank those as a Giants fan?

[Adam]

In that order. With McCarthy so much lower than the other two and with some Stefanski so much lower than Harbaugh, I don't see how anyone could, any fan anyway, who's not going to be part of any interview process or whatever. How, how they could not want John Harbaugh. Now the last time we saw Harbaugh, two things, you know, a few weeks ago, he got killed for not using Derrick Henry enough, rightfully so. And I think he made a mistake not getting more yards for Tyler Loop. I think taking a knee there at the end was, was kind of silly. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten more yards, I don't know. But I think he made a mistake and played that a little bit too conservatively for a guy who I don't think had ever attempted a game winning field goal before. He's not perfect. Ian Rapoport was saying on NFL Network that he lost the locker room. So he's not perfect. Maybe just time for a change of scenery, but he's so clearly the best candidate here. But Jamie, you say everybody wants the Giants job. Why wouldn't you want the Ravens job? That to me feels like the, the best one. That's the bad news for teams like the Giants is that a better opening just, just appeared so.

[Jamie]

Well, not for the best candidate though.

[Adam]

Not for Harbaugh.

[Jamie]

He's not going back there, I think. Look, you have those two jobs. You have the Raiders with, you know, number one pick and you know, an opportunity to sort of reshape that franchise. You know, the coordinator jobs are certainly interesting. You know, now that we're starting to see those take hold and clearly these head coaches are going to hire new coordinators also or bring guys that they're familiar with. So we have a lot of, you know, still ifs to figure out with, you know, several of these teams and obviously their fantasy options. But it's going to be, you know, telling with. And this is the reason why McCarthy's getting opportunities to, you know, have opportunities to get another job is there's not a lot of offensive minded or offense or coaches with offensive backgrounds that are available in this coaching cycle. You know, last year you had, you know, a few. Clearly, you know, two of the best have materialized and they're in the playoffs with Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen. Kingsbury may get, you know, interviews. Clint Kubiak is going to get interviews. You know, I don't know if these guys are going to be the best head coaching options when you have Jesse Minter and Chris Shula and Brian Flores and you know, the defensive minded guys or the defensive coordinators that probably deserve to get coaching chances more so than these offensive guys. So we'll see how it all shakes out. I think that's why you're looking at the Giants and who they're talking to. You know, Harbaugh is clearly more of the perennial head coach that you'll, you'll look for. You know, a guy that doesn't necessarily is a special teams guy by, by trade. You know, a guy that doesn't have to or you hope is going to hire good coordinators, you know. So my guess is that's the next step for wherever he goes.

[Adam]

I think he's probably going to bring Todd Monk in based on some reports. He was insistent on keeping Monk in, in, in Baltimore and Monken I think did, did a really good job. If you think about Lamar Jackson, he averaged a career high yards per attempt, incredible yards per attempt in 2024 and then got off to a great start in 2025. Dave, what's your take on all the coaching news? And, and let's talk about Cliff Kingsbury in this as well because he's been a pretty good fantasy offensive coordinator or head coach. So what's your take on all this, Dave?

[Dave]

I just, I agree that the Ravens is the best job to have and, and any coach that's out there would love to go to Baltimore. And I think that Harbaugh going on the market might potentially open up another head coaching opportunity. I think teams that might be sticking with their head coach for now could end up saying, well, if we can get John Harbaugh, you know, why would we stick with this guy?

[Jamie]

I'll tell you one that makes sense in that vein is if Buffalo loses.

[Dave]

Could you imagine that? Yeah, yeah, that would be something. And there, there's a couple other teams that might do the exact same thing. So I don't know if we're done yet with openings and coaches that could be on the move. So the musical chairs game continues. I read something on X before the show that Cliff Kingsbury is now waiting to see what happens with Matt Nagy. And if Matt Nagy leaves Kansas City, he could go to Kansas City, reunite with Patrick Mahomes and run that offense in Kansas City and that would be pretty crazy. I don't know if Kingsbury would do it because I think Andy Reid likes to call the plays, but that's something that I found quite intriguing. And then the other thought I had was there. I don't think there's a better hire for the Cardinals than Clint Kubiak, who has a track record of doing well against the rams and the 49ers and he obviously knows a lot about the Seahawks. He would stay in division, just find a really good defensive coordinator to go with them and let him build his thing up. I think that would help the Cardinals accelerate quite a bit. I just don't know how high they would be on his wish list. Although I would imagine money could could change that pecking order quite a bit. So interesting times ahead. But I agree, the Ravens, that's the best job. I think the Giants is next best.

[Adam]

Okay, so we'll certainly stay updated and have the analysis of every offensive coordinator, every head coach that gets hired. Remember, you might think of John Harbaugh as a, you know, run the ball, defensive minded guy, but they actually before the Lamar Jackson era, 20, 15 and 16, the Ravens led the NFL in pass attempts. So he's got a history of both styles, all styles of play. And he's not going to be the offensive coordinator, obviously. All right, football fans, picture this. You bet on your favorite player to score the first touchdown in the game, but his teammate scores instead. If this happens, BETMGM wants to give you another chance at the end zone with BetMGM's second chance promotion. You'll get your stake back if your first touchdown scorer scores second instead. That's right. Bet on any pro football player to score the first touchdown of the game. If you're right, you win. And if your player scores second, you get your stake back in cash. With BetMGM's second chance offer, you have a chance to keep the fun going. And after the first player crosses the goal line, try a first touchdown scorer wager with confidence today. Bet mgm make it legendary. Are we going to take a break? We'll give you some wild card injury updates and then get into our mock draft when we come back. Welcome back everybody. Wildcard news Philadelphia right tackle Lane Johnson is Going to be questionable for the game against San Francisco. That game's on Sunday and hopefully he can get back. He's a huge part of their offense. Kyler Gordon Nickel, cornerback for the Bears. He was designated to return from ir. Maybe he'll be back for the game against the Packers Saturday night. Romo Dunes A and DJ Moore are questionable. DJ Moore should play. Romo Dunes A. We shall see. We'd like to get at least one or two games with everybody healthy to see how the targets look to give us, you know, some misleading information that won't matter at all for 2026. Dontavian Wicks was limited in practice. He's got that concussion. Dante Devonte Adams was listed as a full participant in practice there at Carolina. That's the first game of the wild card round Saturday at 4:30pm Eastern. And tight end Terence Ferguson, who did not play on in week 18, he was listed as a. Did not practice for. And they have that game Saturday. And man, the Rams, they love using a lot of tight ends. We had Tyler Higby back. We had Parkinson's mentioned. Parkinson said it's such a huge game in Week 18. But yeah, of course, right for Ferguson, at least Jacob Gibbs is going to draft him in a lot of our leagues kind of late and I think he did in this draft and you know, maybe, hopefully they can just focus on one guy next year.

[Jamie]

Well, Higby's gone. He's a free agent, so. Yeah.

[Adam]

All right. Is Parkinson.

[Dave]

Parkinson could be a cap casualty.

[Adam]

Okay. Right now he's like their number one tight end, so looks like a valuable player for them. We'll see. Okay. Mock draft review. Did you guys have a strategy going into it?

[Jamie]

Jamie, take good players.

[Adam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dave]

There you go.

[Adam]

And well, you know, that's obviously said in Jess, but also could be interpreted, which is kind of what I did was just best player available. I didn't really worry so much about position.

[Jamie]

I didn't really have a strategy going into it. I had a strategy as it unfolded, which was once I got kind of like the core of my lineup, I was just taking, you know, playing players in either first or second years that have the chance to maybe take a step forward in year two or three.

[Adam]

Oh, okay. So he wants the young breakouts. Dave, how about you?

[Dave]

Basically the same thing. Obviously, knowing that this was a three receiver league, full ppr, I wanted to lean into wide receivers a little bit more and it forced my hand on a couple of decisions that in retrospect, I don't really love but you'll. You'll hear me say this a lot today. This is why we mock draft, this is why we go through this process, is to learn, even if it's a micro decision, player A versus player B, or a bigger decision, you know, strategies that we definitely want to use. It. It helps. And it's better to get that stuff out of the way now than after your draft in late August. And you go, oh, why did I take that guy? So I. I'm encouraged by some of the findings and some of the realizations that I had.

[Adam]

You want to talk about any findings or realizations that really.

[Dave]

I would love to talk about one of the findings or realizations. I just don't know how you want to go about attacking the draft and whether you want me to jump to my late third round pick and what I did and what I wish I did, or do you want to just go in order of the whole thing?

[Adam]

Well, I think let's talk, I guess. Yeah, let's not get into the specifics just yet. One of the things, when we get.

[Dave]

To round three, I'll let you know what I did and what I would do if I could do it again.

[Adam]

What did you think about running back versus wide receiver? You know, because there's. There were a couple of thoughts that I had. One, I thought about the running back landscape this year, 2025, and all the committees and how annoying it was. And I thought, let's see if I can get a couple of workhorses, what I think will be workhorses. And I did. I got two of my top eight players as Amari and Ham. I had the seventh pick, Amari, and Hampton fell to the second round. Who'd I take in the first round? Sorry, you took Von Hn Hn and.

[Dave]

You achieved your mission, sir.

[Adam]

Well, I think. I don't know about Hampton, but, you know, we'll see how that plays out. But also at the same time, you got to talk about how receiver played out this year. And it was pathetic.

[Dave]

It was horrible.

[Adam]

So it might make sense to grab an elite receiver, you know, whenever you can, without reaching. You know, I could have taken Amanra St. Brown or CD Lamb over Devon Hn, for example. I could have taken Nico Collins over Omari and Hampton. These are just some of the things I could have done because my receivers, I don't know, they might. They might stink. I have. I have T. Higgins, Cortland Sutton and Romo Dunes A. I'm fine with that.

[Jamie]

I'm fine. Okay.

[Dave]

All right. So if you're fine with that, then? There's probably no regret overtaking Omarion Hampton over Nico.

[Adam]

No, I don't think so.

[Dave]

Was there a running back that you saw when you took one of those receivers? So you went, damn, I wish I.

[Adam]

Could have gotten one of those guys. Well, RJ Harvey went right before I took T. Higgins, so that would have been tempting to take three running backs. My first three picks, because I went Chase Brown. The first six picks of round three were Henry, Chase Brown, Rico Dowdle, which we think is not a good pick. Saquon Barkley, Travion Henderson, RJ Harvey. So at that point, no, I'm definitely going wide receiver. Bucky Irving was the next pick. That's. That's interesting. Breeze hall went right before I took Cortland Sutton. Oh, Kyron Williams. I mean, I could have taken Kyron Williams over Sutton, but you never know how it's going to play out. I just thought that trying to balance, you know, not dealing with running back committees versus, you know, having a great wide receiver, it's. What do you prioritize? I don't know that there is a right answer. I prioritize running back. Jamie, did you have a thought about. About that, specifically prioritizing running back a receiver early?

[Jamie]

No, I was just taking in in the beginning part of the draft, best player available. So piggy from the two spot. You know, I. I felt like I accomplished that in my first three picks and then it was kind of okay. Now I need to address receiver. At least that's the way I felt. So, you know, in the fourth round, I took Marvin Harrison, who I'm looking forward to seeing what he looks like in a full, full year with a pocket quarterback, pocket passer, and maybe what Michael Wilson did, Marvin Harrison could do as well.

[Adam]

Okay, so Jamie had the second pick.

[Jamie]

He went.

[Adam]

This is a three receiver PPR league, by the way. Bijan Robinson, A.J. brown on the Bills, Chase Brown and Marvin Harrison with your first four picks. Dave, which pick did you have?

[Dave]

I had the 11th pick. And I agreed with you that getting a stud running back who's going to get a lot of work feels like a good way to start your team. And I took Jonathan Taylor at 11 overall.

[Adam]

But then you went three receipts that you didn't take another running back until.

[Dave]

I took another running back for a while. Yep. Yeah, so did a little hero rb. I would have pivoted from that if a running back had fallen to a spot that I really, really loved and one actually ended up and I didn't pull the trigger on it. So Ray Rice or Ray Rice? Rasheed Rice in early round two. Ray Rice would have been a bad pick. Ted McMillan in round three. Jameson Williams in round four.

[Adam]

Jamie, we have a question in the chat, probably for you from Aaron. If you pick from a pack of pocket passers, how many pocket passers could you pick?

[Jamie]

A pack of them.

[Adam]

Johnny says, I can't believe how far Jalen Hurts fell in this mock. Yeah. Round.

[Dave]

Me neither.

[Adam]

Wild stuff.

[Jamie]

And Johnny was in this draft?

[Adam]

Johnny was in the draft?

[Jamie]

Yes.

[Adam]

What team was he? Oh, there he is. He's number five.

[Jamie]

Yes.

[Adam]

All right, Johnny, look at you.

[Jamie]

Brad also was in this draft. Brad Kernet. Both were two of the leftover league winners, so I chose them to join us in the mock draft. The third one didn't answer me, so.

[Adam]

So Brad had the first pick and Johnny had the fifth pick. Very cool. All right.

[Jamie]

Glad that Johnny asked about 20 questions in the chat yesterday. I didn't answer one of them.

[Adam]

Yeah, I was. I was not present really. I was just kind of drafting and working on some other stuff.

[Jamie]

We were concerned about your alias.

[Adam]

Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah, I'm going to throw out just a few picks that I thought were kind of interesting. I'll say interesting. You tell me if you like them or not. George Pickens, 24th overall in between A.J. brown and Derrick Henry in a three receiver PPR league. George Pickens, 24th Overall. Good, bad, ugly. What do you think?

[Dave]

I think it's good.

[Jamie]

I think it's great.

[Adam]

Rico Dowdle, 3.3, third pick of the third round.

[Dave]

Arguably the worst pick in the draft ever.

[Adam]

How about the 3, 4 turn? Cam Scatter Boo and Luther Burden.

[Jamie]

I just know where Jacob has these guys ranked and so I kind of assumed he was going to take those players. He's very high in Scatterbo. He's very high on Burden. Both are in his top 12 for his early 2026 rankings. So. I don't love it, but. No, if you have convictions on players, do it.

[Dave]

If I could do it over again, I think I would have taken scatter boo over McMillan.

[Jamie]

Interesting. Yeah, I would have gone ETN.

[Dave]

Yeah. I have no idea where E10 is going to be or what role he'll have. So I. I pretty sure I know what role Scatterable will have and I think the Giants are an offense on the rise. His numbers in the eight games he played in were really. It's more the seven games he played and you could throw out. Week one were pretty amazing. Like he averaged 19.1 PPR points per game, 4.7 targets per game. Some of those games were not with Jackson Dart. His numbers were just as good with Jackson Dart. Obviously there's an injury issue, so you can kind of put him in that same boat as Malik Neighbors. Are we sure he's going to be ready to go for the start of the season? Are we sure he's going to last the season? But if you draft Scatter Boo and you back him up, I think that proved to be a pretty good combination for fantasy managers this year. And it could get better based on what direction the Giants go in this offseason as far as offensive scheme play Caller I don't think they're far away from having one of the better offensive lines in the league. And I think Scatter Boo, when he's healthy, can be an absolute force.

[Adam]

Quick aside here. If you want to see the results of the draft, Jamie's going to write the article on Wednesday. Published Wednesday or Thursday, you think?

[Jamie]

Wednesday.

[Adam]

Okay, it'll be published on, on Wednesday. Or you can go to YouTube.com fantasy football today because we're displaying the entire draft board while we do the show. So that's one way to watch. Now, one of the things I did in 2025 I think I'm gonna do again is I just avoided players who were coming off significant injuries. So the two that come to mind are Rasheed Rice, who I made an exception for because he served a six game suspension and basically took a longer time like, you know, healed up, and Chris Godwin, which obviously worked out. But these guys are often not the same coming off serious injuries. Is there anyone else I'm forgetting? It must be from 2025 coming up.

[Jamie]

At the start of the season.

[Adam]

Yeah. Who came off like a torn acl? Christian Watson did. He wasn't really in this conversation. He did pretty well though. He actually did great coming off torn acl.

[Jamie]

So I'm sorry, player coming off significant injury that you were still high on?

[Adam]

No, no, no. Just player coming.

[Dave]

He didn't want to draft injured players.

[Adam]

Who, who were the injured.

[Jamie]

You're very high. McCaffrey.

[Adam]

Yeah, he wasn't, he wasn't coming off. He. But he wasn't coming off like a torn ligament or a dislocated ankle or one of these. I don't, I don't even think he had surgery. Christian McCaffrey, if I remember.

[Jamie]

He did not. I don't, I don't know if Rashi Rice ever had surgery though.

[Dave]

Really?

[Adam]

He tore his lcl, didn't he or his mcl, he must have had surgery. But yeah, I don't know. I, I just. We, I think we get, we get kind of fooled by players coming back from injury. They, they often don't find their form for a little while. So we'll see with Scatter Boo and neighbors.

[Dave]

Most of his injuries were like to bones, not ligaments but so was usually what's up.

[Adam]

So was Godwin.

[Dave]

Yeah, that's true. I think there were some ligament issues with God, I don't remember.

[Adam]

Yeah, okay.

[Dave]

He's also way younger.

[Adam]

How about Josh Allen in the fourth round? It's QB1. That's, you know, that's always going to happen in our, often going to happen in our drafts. And Michael Wilson, first pick of round five ahead of Ameka Buka and George Kittle. What do you think about that pick?

[Jamie]

You know, I, I think whenever you see these spike performances you have to sort of evaluate how did it happen and can it happen again. And so in the case of Michael Wilson, we did not see him play very well when Marvin Harrison was healthy and fully involved. And so what's going to be the situation with the new coach and new quarterback? It's a, you know, I don't want to say a wide open canvas because I would imagine Marvin Harrison should return as the number one guy in the off of this receiving core. But clearly what Michael Wilson did is going to be appealing to whoever again the new coach and court quarterback is. So we'll see how this all unfolds and hopefully there is a world where all three of Harrison, Wilson and Trey McBride can coexist. We just have not seen that for Wilson. He's been the odd man out when everybody's been 100 healthy so feels a little bit too soon. But you know, again if, if, if what he showed and, and displayed and the way he performed is good enough for whoever the new people in charge are. He may be better than Harrison. I doubt it, but he might.

[Adam]

Let's go to our draft here.

[Dave]

Round one.

[Adam]

Jamar Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, Puka Nakua, Jackson Smith and Jigba Christian McCaffrey, Devon Achan. I'm on Ross St. Brown, CD Lamb, Malik Neighbors, Jonathan Taylor, James Cook. So again, last time I'm going to say it but just a reminder. Three receivers, full PPR, 12 teams, top six teams make the playoffs. Playoffs start in week 14. First round is. Yeah, there are no real surprises here except maybe neighbors. Other than that Chase, Bijan Gibbs, Puka, JSN McCaffrey, HN I'm on Ross ain't Brown Lamb Neighbors. Taylor Cook. Okay, let's go to round.

[Jamie]

I don't think Neighbors is a surprise now. Again, when we get more information, then it changes things.

[Adam]

Fine, I'll just be controversial. You would have to be because you hate the Giants. You are a bumbling moron who shouldn't even be invited into a league. If you take Malik Neighbors in round one. Bam. Sorry, Marone. Who took him in round one?

[Jamie]

Round one.

[Dave]

One of our best drafters and fantasy Marone Bergson. And you just called him a bumbling.

[Adam]

Moron and he's not getting invited to anymore. All right, fine. Round two. Drake London, Rasheed Rice to Dave Ashton, Genty, Trey McBride, Justin Jefferson, Omarion Hampton. That's the first six picks of round two. London Rice, Genty McBride, Justin Jefferson, Omari and Hampton. Dave, any thoughts about those picks?

[Dave]

I would expect most of these players to go in this range. I think the one that might be a little surprising maybe. I don't know how surprised people would be that Justin Jefferson went in the top half. I also don't know if people are surprised with how far Trey McBride fell because that's somebody that I think people could take in late round one or super early round two. But Jefferson is the one that I think will get probably the most attention because of how bad he was last year. And I, I, I can't help but think that there will be somebody in every draft in August, September that will give him a pass because they know how talented he is. They know that the volume is going to be just as good, if not better than it was this past year and that the Vikings will get their, their act together. They have already talked about bringing in another quarterback. It could be, it might be a really good veteran and we don't even see J.J. mcCarthy on the field. And as long as that offensive line's okay, who knows if it's the right quarterback. Justin Jefferson could fall into round late round one territory again.

[Adam]

Jamie, you, what do you make of Drake London? Seemingly the splits with Pennix versus Cousins over the last two seasons being pretty dramatic?

[Jamie]

Yes and no. I, I think last season because I don't know how healthy he was with Cousins at the final tail end of this year. So I, I almost throw that out. You know, it was good to see the way he performed in Week 18, at least finding the end zone, but for the most part, I don't know if he was 100. Drake London, I mean, look, the, the guy that we were hyping up in 2024 at the start and what he did with Cousins at the start of the season, I still still think he's capable of being an elite fantasy option. So he's going to be one of these guys that starting from really my guess would be Lamb. And Lamb may be higher or lower for some people. By the way, the, the top 12 wide receiver story, if anybody's been following along, of our early rankings, will be up Wednesday as well. Quarterback and running back right on site. Lamb with and without Pickens. Lamb had a disastrous season comparatively to where he usually is. Neighbors, as we just discussed, you know, could certainly fall out of round one. Rashi Rice may not have his quarterback to start the season. Who knows where that's going to end up. If Mahomes is going to miss some time early in the year. And then London, I think can easily jump ahead of, you know, a couple of those guys and, and you feel great about him just based on what he's shown you when he's healthy. So I'm just going to look at him when he's healthy and I think he's, you know, an easy pick in this range.

[Adam]

Yeah, Lamb really did finish with a whimper, didn't he? He didn't score a touchdown in five straight games. Now week 18, he left at halftime, but he still only had one catch on one target at halftime. Week 14, he had six catches, 121 yards and he left that game in the middle of the third quarter. It's week 16, 17 and 18 were really bad for CD Lamb.

[Dave]

We.

[Jamie]

I'm. I'm very curious. So you know, I. In breaking down our, our rankings, the six of us who did this, so three of us. Heath, Dan, Jacob and. Yeah, that's it. Three of us. Heath, Dan and Jacob. I've been trying to do like which sort of ranking stood out and I have to go back and tweak the neighbors one for the wide receiver story. But Dan has CD Lamb third ahead of jsn. I believe he's the highest on Lamb. Jacob has him the lowest at six. We all have him in the top six. And Pickens clearly had a better fantasy season than him. You know, however you want to nitpick it, you know, some of the spikes spike performances that he had when Lamb was not there, but he finished with a better season overall. If Pickens returns, are we ranking Lamb too high or are we just going to throw out that he wasn't healthy and deserves to be an easy first round selection? I know how I feel about it. I'm Curious your guys take.

[Dave]

Well, you can start by trying to azer stat him a little bit. He got hurt really early on in week three, and then he missed three games after that. I would imagine his PPR per game average if you eliminate week three and probably eliminate week 18. Even though he finished with a whimper, I still would imagine it's really, really good. I can look it up.

[Jamie]

It's his worst season since 2021.

[Dave]

Right. And so it's not gonna. It's not gonna register as high as any of those seasons, but it's still going to be really good relative to what you want from a number one receiver in fantasy football.

[Adam]

Only caught three touchdowns on 117 targets. That's weird for CD Lamb. I. I thought about this. Go. You know, because I was going to ask you about that George Pickens question at the, at the 2, 3 turn, and I had just a really, really compelling, memorable, very interesting take on this situation. And if you want to hear it, you're going to have to stay tuned because we have a break coming up. Let's take a break, and I'm going to blow your mind with my thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys after this on fft. Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the Sports Media Podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports Media podcast has you covered.

[Dave]

I've been turning down interviews all week. Koda Copy reached out. Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility.

[Adam]

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, so my thought on the Cowboys is really not that interesting. I'm sure most people have also come to this thought, but I wanted to tease it. So you stayed tuned. Anyway, I think they. They're pretty much the Bengals right now. You've got Lamb is not as good as Chase, and Pickens is better than Higgins. So the gap between the two wide receivers is not as big. And in this draft, Chase goes first overall, Higgins goes in the middle of round three, Lamb goes in the middle of round one, and Pickens goes in the middle of round two. And then you just ask yourself, well, where's Dak Prescott going? Why is he, you know, he's at the end of round six. That's. That's not so bad. Joe Burrow went in the middle of round five. But right now, as we look at them great offenses with bad defenses, it's pretty much as good as it gets for Fantasy Cowboys throw to their tight end more than the Bengals do. Ryan Flynn away emerged a little bit at the end of the season too. That might be something to keep in mind, but I think, you know, it's just kind of a way to, to think about those guys is you kind of drafting the Cowboys like you're drafting the Bengals.

[Dave]

And that's what you should look for from teams moving forward, which squads have explosive offenses and good players and crummy defenses. I mean, it's kind of an obvious thing. So looking for that and projecting that's going to be a big part of what we will do this off season. Similarly, I don't know if, if, if it's necessarily going to stay that way for the Dallas's and Cincinnati's of the league. And I know that I, I think there's a pretty good chance that Dallas won't suddenly like turn their defense around. But there are a couple pass rushers in the defensive back away from being good and they could start to slow down some opposing offenses. Same thing with Cincinnati. And if that happens, then there will be fewer opportunities for this passing game, those passing games.

[Adam]

Okay, Jamie, I'm sorry, do you want to say anything about Higgins or.

[Jamie]

Well, no. So in, in the receiver rank list for 2026, you're the only one that has Higgins in the top 12. And in the five games, four games that he played with Joe Burrow in the final six, that Burrow was there because he missed two, he averaged 17 and a half PPR points per game, which would have been fourth. I'm sorry, sixth among wide receivers. If he did that for the season.

[Adam]

Yeah, it was, it was a little too touchdown dependent. He only went over 67 yards once. He was usually in the 53 to 67 yard range. He had a game with three targets. He had a game with five targets. So it wasn't great. But I just, I've seen this before. I know what a full season of Joe Burrow, T. Higgins and Jamar Chase looks like. And T. Higgins is usually a top, top 15 wide receiver at worst. So that's why I felt comfortable with him in the middle of the third round. All right, going to the second half of round two, the first half of round two, just to remind you, was Drake London, Rasheed Rice, Ashton Genti, Trey McBride, Justin Jefferson and Omarion Hampton. Then we get to Nico Collins, Brock Bowers, Josh Jacobs, Devonte Adams, A.J. brown and George Pickens. Nico Collins, Brock Bowers, Josh Jacobs, Devonte Adams, A.J. brown, George Pickens. That's the last six of this round. Jamie, you took A.J. brown in here, second to last pick of round two. What did you think of the second half of round two?

[Jamie]

I think it made a lot of sense. You know, I was curious to see when Bauer was going to go, you know, after McBride came off the board and then that sort of stretch of running backs, you know, Jacobs, Brown, Henry Barkley, that group, when they would go. I kind of figured once it got to me and still knowing that Henry, the way I have it ranked is Brown, Henry, Barkley, that they were all there, that I'd have a shot at one of them, you know, not knowing if Brad was going to take two of them. But he didn't. So I was, I was comfortable enough to go AJ Brown, who was my next highest wide receiver. And so to start with Robinson and Brownett as my two running backs. Those are two of my top eight guys. And A.J. brown still a top 12 receiver. I was thrilled with how that unfolded.

[Dave]

I wonder if the running backs will get pushed up by the time we get to even like May and that receivers like Adams, Brown, those two specifically like things will change with them, that we won't be as excited about them to the point where we would take them as a top 24 player. Maybe they'll still be round three range, but not late round two. And so getting somebody like Chase Brown who shouldn't lose his role, Cincinnati should still be an explosive offense, all that stuff, he's. He could get pushed up into round two pretty easily.

[Adam]

I mean I, I could push him up in round one.

[Dave]

I get it.

[Adam]

And you, and you got Chase Brett. Right. So Jamie takes AJ Brown, then George Pickens goes at the end of round two. And then we get that run that I mentioned earlier of six straight running backs to start round three. So I guess that's part of the calculus as you're, you're going, well, there's a bunch of good running backs I can get in round three. I'll grab A.J. brown here. And Dave, did you have anything you wanted to add on the Pickens Lamb splits?

[Dave]

Yeah, I was able to look up how, how they did what they averaged in the games when they played together. So it's weeks one and two and then CD Lamb came back week seven. Let's go week seven through week 17. It's a 12 game sample. Who do you think averaged more PPR points per game, Lamb or Pickens?

[Adam]

Definitely Pickens.

[Dave]

CD Lamb.

[Adam]

No.

[Dave]

6 PPR points per game. George Pickens had 16.1 PPR points per game. Both of them averaged north of eight targets per game, but CD had almost 10 targets per game. It's also worth noting that both of George Pickens had two games over the year with over 30 PPR points. Both of them came when CD Lam was out. So I think you do have to downgrade to a degree expectations for George Pickens and, and I don't think anybody's really upgrading what the expectations are for CD Lamb. I think he is what he is and everybody knows it. But it's, it shouldn't be a shock to the system when you see CD Lamb going in round one.

[Adam]

The other thing is in that stretch you had, Lamb had six more red zone targets and eight more end zone targets than George Pickens. And it's amazing. He had 12 end zone targets in that stretch. He only had three touchdowns. Pickens. Pickens had four end zone targets and he had three touchdowns on his end zone targets. So ryan Floy had four end zone targets. He caught all of them. So CD Lamb had a 25% catch rate on his end zone targets from week seven through 17. Just kind of fluky and really low there.

[Jamie]

I think just the, the thing for me is, you know, you, you made the comparison with the Bengals. Jamar Chase still thrives with a very good running mate. CD Lamb finally got a good running mate and did not thrive.

[Adam]

It's true. But yeah, when he averaged 10 targets.

[Jamie]

A game that you said he was still great. There's, there's a, they're certainly not knocking him to the point where you're not considering him a top 10 wide receiver or in the case, like I said, everybody has him in the top six. I think that's fair and, and should be the case. But he did finally have significant competition for whatever you want to put metrics on it. Red zone touches, red zone targets, targets across the board. You know, another guy that Dak Prescott Colline on and it was not a great season for him. Should he bounce back in the touchdown category? Absolutely. Should he bounce back across the board? Probably. So. So you probably give him, if you want to Azer Static, take away the week three game and the week 18 game, we're probably talking about 16 points per game as opp.

[Dave]

It's exactly 16.6.

[Jamie]

Right. So we did him. You're giving him two more. He's still a top 10 wide receiver. And that's, you know, again counting on him to do a little bit better in over the course of the season. But I still think when you're, when you're Looking at it mostly from the picking standpoint, can Pickens do this again and can. Can he still be a top 12 wide receiver? Because three people of the six of us have him in the top 12, three to nine. And so when you start to, you know, sort of nitpick some of these guys, who's the, who's. Who's worth taking in round two? Because I think the top 12 receivers for the most part are going to go in the first two rounds.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Adam]

Okay. Round three. Now let's get to round three in this 12 team mock draft. And it's Derrick Henry, Chase Brown, Rico Dowdle with not a good pick. Saquon Barkley, Travion Henderson, RJ Harvey. Are Trayvon Henderson and RJ Harvey good picks? Jamie in the first, they are picks five and six of round three.

[Jamie]

I think this is the range where both should go. I would take Harvey over Henderson. And again, looking at it, you were the only one that ranked Harvey. I believe Dave Jacob and maybe Dan, maybe it was heath. There were three people that ranked Henderson in the top 12. Harvey. I, for me, I'm very curious to see what they do because I don't think he'll be the pr. He'll be the only running back that the Broncos use. I think it'll be the primary running back. I don't think it'll be the only running back that they use. I think we'll see a, a tandem there. But clearly once J.K. dobbins was injured and the way that he closed the season, four of his final six games over 18 PPR points, a lot of it was touchdown dependent. But he did have three games with four plus catches. So you know he has that in his game. Henderson is just very tricky to figure out because Ramadre Stevenson signed through 2028, he only played more snaps than Stevenson in three games where they were both healthy. If you look at the production, he had four games, four monster games, four for, for Trevion. Only two of them came when Ramandre was healthy. So can he be a top tier fantasy running back? And by top tier, I would say top 12. For me, he's not there, but again, three people do think he's there. I'm very excited about Henderson. I was very excited about him coming into the season, but I think just the way that everything unfolded and the way that Stevenson continued to play and probably will continue to play, especially as their offensive line, we saw a lot of it, you know, second half of the season where they were unhealthy. This is a Team on the rise. You want pieces of this offense? I think so. Henderson in round three, I think is probably the earliest he should go. And this is the range of backs, you know, for him. But, you know, when you start to debate him with Scatter Boo and with ETN and you know, for me, I'm going to be probably bullish on Breeze hall next year where I was, you know, not really excited about him this year, Kyron, and, and the year that he had still, you know, so you start to see where some of those running backs and where they went. I think Henderson probably went too soon.

[Adam]

You know, interesting stat on Henderson. He had four carries of 50 or more yards that went for a touchdown.

[Jamie]

Right.

[Adam]

I think is the second player to ever have two games in a season with two plus two 50 plus yard touchdown runs. If you take those carries away, take the four big breakaway carries away, this.

[Dave]

Is going to be gross.

[Adam]

Still average? No, he is shocking. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry without the. Isn't that amazing without those. Yes.

[Dave]

I was expecting that number to be much lower.

[Adam]

I think that's, that's really impressive because for the year he averaged 5.1 yards per carry, I think, and, and without those runs, I think he averaged. You know what? I'm not so sure I trust this, what I just did, but I'm. I don't see why this would be wrong. I'm gonna.

[Dave]

You take his total number of rush yards, you subtract those four plays.

[Adam]

I just did four carries. You know, I put in true media yards, gained 1 to 49. And it says he averaged 4.9 yards per carry. But I will double check on that. All right, then we get to the second half of round three. And Dave, you can take this here. It's T. Higgins, Bucky Irving, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Teterol McMillan and Cam Scatterbo. Certainly we're taking some chances here. T. Higgins, Bucky Irving, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Teterell McMillan and Cam Scatter.

[Jamie]

Boo.

[Dave]

You're. This is the next best for both positions. I get why the running backs went ahead of the receivers like T. Higgins and Garrett Wilson. I'm a little surprised Olave fell behind Higgins and Wilson because we should feel really good about how Olave finished the year, how the Saints finished the year, and what Olave's role will be going into next year. Fewer questions about him than there are about T. Higgins and especially Garrett Wilson. We don't know who's going to be throwing Garrett Wilson the football and what that offense will look like. We're just assuming that Garrett Wilson will continue to be a big time target hog like he's been T. Higgins. Obviously we wish he had more targets than what he had last year. Average 6.5 targets per game on the season. You're hoping for more than that, but he makes up for that with some awesome touchdowns along the way. He can have some massive games. I think if you're looking for consistency, probably Wilson and Olave should go ahead of him and then the running backs. I don't know about trusting Bucky finishing the year. Yes, he was the lead back for Tampa, but I don't think it'll necessarily be a three headed monster again because I don't think Rashad White will be back in Tampa. But Sean Tucker could see an increased role and if Bucky struggles again, does he lose that grip? Does he become a 1B back and Tucker or somebody else becomes the 1A back? Tampa is going to be an interesting team to follow during the off season. And then you've got McMillan who could be an absolute beast, there's no doubt about it. But he's not in the best offense for it, doesn't have the best quarterback, and you've got to wonder about just how many times he's going to have a ton of targets in games. He just finished a year. He had 10 games with seven or more targets. He had 15 or more PPR points in just four of them. You would hope for better consistency from McMillan there and then Scottaboo already talked about just awesome numbers when he's had the chance to play. He gets a lot of snapshots, gets a lot of touches. The Giants leaned into him. Will they continue to lean into him? I think they will. Maybe not to the same extent, but he's definitely going to be a short yardage guy for them and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's kind of what we love about running backs in fantasy. It's just a matter of will he be healthy and then can he stay healthy? And that's a question that if you're risk averse, you just, if you're like Adam, you don't want to touch these injured players. You're not going to draft Cam Scatter Boo with a top 40 pick. I'm more interested in getting Scatter Boo now than I was when we did this draft. Especially if it means, you know, a low price tag on Tyrone Tracy just to lock up the Giants backfield, which I think will be decent. I don't think it'll be One of the best backfields in the league, but I think it'll be decent.

[Adam]

So, yeah, I was wrong. It's 3.9.

[Dave]

That's what I thought, 3.8.

[Adam]

Maybe what I did wrong was I. I did a filter for carries of 1 to 49 yards, but that didn't include all the carries for zero or negative yards. So now that I have all of those carries in there, it's 3.8 yards per carry for Tray.

[Dave]

But he's gonna. He's Travion's gonna be a fascinating running back to. To talk about too. And again, this comes down to risk versus reward. We know that it's part of his profile that he can have these smash runs. And I. I pulled it up right here. He had six games last year with 15 or more touches, and in three of them, he was under 13 PPR points. Those were games against the Bengals. We would have expected a lot more than that. The jets in week 17, that was when the Patriots put up 42 points. And then week nine against the Falcons. His other three games were 28 or more PPR points. Just absolute monsters. And so he could be the type of fantasy running back that's feast or famine. One week he's amazing and he wins you the week, and the next week he stinks and you lose because of him.

[Jamie]

Okay. The problem was, though, two of those games you referenced were with Stevenson out.

[Dave]

That's true. That's a very good point. You mean the big games?

[Adam]

You look at the wide receivers being taken after that stretch of running backs. Higgins, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Teterell, McMillan into the next round, Luther Burden. I don't think you should expect to see he. Jacob's very high on him. You shouldn't expect to see Luther Burn going 37th overall. Jameson Williams, lad McConkey.

[Jamie]

I'll be surprised, though, if DJ Moore's gone if he goes in that range.

[Adam]

Yeah, he's.

[Dave]

He's in a weird spot with his contract that the. The best way out for the Bears with him is to trade him. Yeah, he's.

[Jamie]

There's.

[Dave]

There's not enough value in cutting them, even as a June 1st designation. And so if they can't trade him, I wonder if they keep them and they just don't use them to the same level that they did even this year, which wasn't a lot.

[Adam]

My point is, you know, you've got. You've got, you know, question marks at wide receiver as early as round three. I mean, you could even say in round two. But as early as round three. So if you, if you don't like the wide receivers, Higgins, Wilson, Olave, McMillan, Luther Burden, Jameson Williams, Lad McConkey and then Cortland Sutton in the middle of round four, then maybe prioritize that position with one of your first two picks.

[Jamie]

I do think those three guys though are going to be great if they stay healthy in Higgins, Wilson and Olave. I mean, Higgins, again, what he did with Burrow was. Speaks for itself. What he does with Burrow speaks for itself. Wilson in the first five games of the season before he got hurt in week six, was a top three wide receiver, 19.1 PPR points per game. And that's with Justin Fields starting four of those games. So you hope that there's a better quarterback in place there and that just enhances Wilson's value. That being said, I'm going to guess they still continue to build out their receiving core and as Dave alluded to, what we saw from Olave this past season should instill some confidence in people. So to get those three guys in that range and then to still get what Jameson Williams look like, what we hope Tedro McMillan can become, obviously what lab McConkey showed in his rookie season, then maybe with a healthy receiving core or, excuse me, healthy offensive line for the Chargers, like, there's just a lot to like about this group in this range, you know. And then you want to throw Sutton in there. Yes, I do think Burden probably goes behind these guys. But you know, if you, if you really believe in Luther Burton going into year two and believe in Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson and the potential of no D.J. moore, granted what Burden showed in his two best games, he did that without Romo Dunes on the field. There's still just again a lot to like about what he could be.

[Adam]

Wasn't it was a pretty decent range at wide receiver a year ago or in August, looking at ADP rounds like three through four. London fell to round three. A.J. brown fell to round three in CBS ADP. Lad McConkey bust T. Higgins. Devonte Adams. I think Higgins would have had a good year if Borough had stayed healthy. Mike Evans bust Tyree Kill. I think he was fine at 40th overall. I think he was fine when he played Jackson Smith and you're gonna do that.

[Jamie]

Then you can't call Evans a bus because he was fine when he played too.

[Adam]

No, not real well. Oh yeah, you're right. You're right. He was. I was. Guess I was just kind of thinking of like the last couple games. But no, even, even against The Dolphins. He caught that touchdown. Yeah, Evans was a good pick. Evans was a good pick. My bad. Tyreek hill, fine. JSN was okay, I guess, 40th overall. And then Terry McLaurin, I think actually pretty strong the wide receivers that went in this range last year. All right, let's do another round or two here. Sorry, this took a little too long. And we'll go to the beginning of round four, which is Luther Burden, Jameson Williams, Travis Etn, Lad McConkey, Breece Hall, Cortland Sutton. That's the first six picks Dave took, JMO, I took Sutton. So Burden, JMO, Travis Etn, McConkey, Breeze Hall, Cortland Sutton, and then Josh Allen, Kyron Williams. This pick was really good. I thought Jalen Waddle. I feel like I should have thought about him earlier. The DK Metcalf, Marvin Harrison Jr. And Javante Williams. I think this is where I start going. Why not just take a quarterback over, you know, Dave, Why didn't you take a quarterback over Jameson Williams, for example? Why didn't you take Josh Allen?

[Dave]

Because my game plan at quarterback was to wait. And I think that's what a lot of people will do this year. Maybe even a couple of you hardliners that love to take quarterbacks early on, maybe you start to think about a little bit more when you go back and you look at how Drake May did this year, Trevor Lawrence did this year, Brock Purdy did, Joe Burrow was drafted and then cut, people picked him up. There are a number of quarterbacks. Maybe I'm missing a couple. Caleb who?

[Jamie]

Stafford.

[Dave]

Stafford, Duh. MVP of the league. So I, I feel like that's going to be the position that more people wait on than any other position. I know it's round four and I know it's Josh Allen. I just, I had a feeling that there would be better value if, if I waited rather than taking Josh Allen. And I, I, I can't get over Jameson Williams. I still love him. I think he's got huge upside. We saw that after the buy in Detroit and so I'd rather take that third receiver in a three receiver league. Could have ended up being my number two receiver and I would have been okay with it rather than taking a quarterback and being short at either running back or wide receiver or maybe both, because I didn't take a running back or a wide receiver with my round five pick.

[Jamie]

So Thomas in the draft room said he regretted taking Alan too soon. And so if you play it out with taking somebody else there, he could have had Arguably the best three running back. The three, the, the best trio of running backs. If he had taken Kyron there and gone McCaffrey, Harvey and Kyron, he could have had Jalen Waddle there and had McCaffrey, Harvey, Nico and Waddle. And then if he wanted a quarterback in round five, he could have taken Joe Burrow. Assuming that Allen was off the board or Drake may, depending on how it played out.

[Adam]

Yeah, just the thing is Josh Allen is, has been the safest player in fantasy.

[Dave]

No question.

[Adam]

Every year we draft guys ahead of Josh Allen at other positions we go, oh, they have more upside and sometimes it works out. Sometimes, you know, you could have taken JSN over him, whatever, but sometimes you make a bad pick. So Josh Allen is kind of, I mean quite frankly just has been the safest player in, in fantasy there. There are definitely arguments for and against it there. So don't worry about it.

[Dave]

He is averaged. He's averaged north of 25 fantasy points in a six point per passing touc league each of the past five seasons. When you exclude week 18 from this past year and the year before.

[Adam]

25. So I'd be disappointed in 25 if I draft him as the first quarterback off the board. Six point per passing touchdown leagues. I'd want closer to 28 from Josh Allen and I don't know that he's been there the last two years. Dave, do you have that?

[Dave]

No, he hasn't been there the last three years. 2022, he averaged 29.1.

[Adam]

What? Okay, so you have his averages excluding week 18 for the last three years.

[Dave]

I've got it for the last two years. I could come up with it for 2023 if, if you want.

[Adam]

But what is it?

[Dave]

The averages that matter are 25.9 last year, 27.2. Maybe you'd settle for that.

[Adam]

Yeah, that's not.

[Dave]

That was 2024. 26.5 in 2023, 29.1 in 2022, 26.9 in 2021. Yeah, he's a number 26 or more. If we round up 25.9 to 26, you can live without the tenth of a point. That's, that's. There's nobody else that can say that they've done that. Yeah, that's why he's the number one QB.

[Adam]

He'll have A.J. brown, he'll be great. All right, so again, round four. Luther Burden, JMO ETN McConkey, Breeze Hall, Sutton Allen, Kyron Williams, Jalen Waddle, DK Metcalf, Marvin Harrison Jr. And Javante Williams. What's interesting, a lot of veterans in this round, like, got Luther Burden going into his second year. You got McConkey going into his third year. Everyone else, oh, Marvin Harrison, third year. But it's. It's kind of like, let's. Let's get some established guys in this round. All right, round five. Now Jamie the. The third tight end isn't off the board yet. We have McBride and Bowers in round two. We finally get Kittle in round three. We were talking in our tight end preview and preseason, George Kittle looked like the best value of 2025, one of the best values, especially at tight end. I wonder if that's going to happen again in round five. So round five is Michael Wilson, Ameca Abuca, George Kittle, Drake May, Quinshawn Judkins, Zay Flowers, Joe Burrow, Deandre Swift, Brian Thomas Jr. Colston Loveland, Harold Fannin Jr. And Jackson, Lamar Jackson. So we actually get three tight ends in this round. We also get three quarterbacks, but there's George Kittle with the third pick behind Michael Wilson and Ameca Buka.

[Jamie]

It's a great pick. And then, you know, great picks at the back end of the round, too. With the, you know, start of the young tight end run of Loveland and Fannin, it's going to be fascinating to see how Loveland, Fanon and Tyler Warren and where they get drafted and who gets drafted first of that trio because they're all coming off great seasons, but in different ways. You know, Warren was great early in the year when he had Daniel Jones. Fanon was great later in the season when he had Jitter Sanders. And the last few weeks of Colston Loveland when he may finally have been healthy from that shoulder injury, are just simply amazing. So that's going to be, you know, you mentioned how we may see the Bears and what the postseason looks like. That's certainly a part of how, you know, we view this. I think Caleb Williams is going to lean on his tight ends, but, you know, Ben Johnson is going to use his tight ends, and that's where Colston Loveland comes into play in. In a major way, who the Browns coach is, what they do at receiver to sort of change that receiving cord because it was miserable. How that impacts Fannin and then clearly the quarterback situation for the Colts, especially if Alec Pierce is gone. So all three of these guys, I think, are great. I was thrilled that I got Tyler Warren where I did, which was the back end of round six, you know, so I thought once Loveland and Fanon went, it would just be okay. Warren's gonna be drafted soon, if not the next tight end. He wasn't even the next tight end. Tucker Kraft went ahead of him, which is fine. You know, looking at the way that he performed. We'll see how he is coming off the injury. But, yeah, I. I think just in the case of. Kittle has great value. You know, he's. Hopefully we'll have a, you know, a good playoffs, depending on how many games they play. But when he was healthy this year, he was easy tied into, you know, right behind Trey McBride.

[Adam]

I'm gonna finish it with this, guys, then we can break down our teams. But I'm gonna give you the. This. What, five or six tight ends drafted in rounds five, six or seven, maybe even more than that. And you tell me how you feel about the value on the value o meter. Value o meter. 1 to 10.

[Dave]

Well, which is it, Value meter or value?

[Adam]

It's valu O meter. It's valu O meter.

[Dave]

Got it.

[Adam]

No, it's valuometer.

[Dave]

Got it.

[Adam]

Okay. George Kittle, third pick of round five, one to ten.

[Jamie]

Eight and a half.

[Dave]

I'd say it's a ten. He was going earlier than that last year.

[Adam]

Colston Loveland, 10th pick of round five.

[Dave]

Eight. I'll say seven.

[Adam]

Harold Fannin Jr. 9th, 11th pick of round five 12. That was Dave's pick.

[Dave]

That was my pick. Yeah. It's an 8. I love Fannin.

[Adam]

Tucker Kraft, 5th pick of round 6.

[Jamie]

7.5.

[Dave]

6.5.

[Adam]

Tyler Warren, 11th pick of round 6.

[Jamie]

8.

[Dave]

That's going to be a 7. I. I'd be surprised if he ended up there by the time we get to August.

[Adam]

And that's Jamie's pick. And Kyle Pitts.

[Dave]

That's a good one.

[Adam]

Sixth pick of round seven.

[Dave]

Five.

[Jamie]

Six point five.

[Adam]

Sam Laporta, seventh pick of round seven.

[Dave]

Four.

[Jamie]

Four point five.

[Adam]

Screw you guys.

[Jamie]

I was actually surprised you took him because you were, you know, concerned about the back injury.

[Dave]

Right.

[Jamie]

Lasting until the start of the year, and you're concerned about drafting players that are coming off of injuries.

[Adam]

Well, it was round seven, so you can start to set up your standards a little bit.

[Dave]

Sure.

[Jamie]

But you could have taken the safer route, which I think is still a very underrated player in Juwan Johnson or. Or another young tight end that could have a lot of promise in a Rhonda Gas.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Right.

[Dave]

I think you could have waited on Gadsden.

[Adam]

Gadsden. I would have had to take up my next pick because he went in Round eight.

[Dave]

Yeah. And then you shouldn't have taken him.

[Adam]

It was a tough call. I was a little disappointed to not have one of the second year tight ends.

[Jamie]

But the thing about just looking at what you could have done, you could have taken Jalen Warren there and then taken Gaston with your next pick and you would have had the same combination of players.

[Dave]

I don't know if I'm ready to put Gadsden in the same boat as Fan and Loveland.

[Jamie]

Warren, oh, he's behind those guys for sure.

[Dave]

I don't even think he's in the boat like he's in a dinghy coming along, you know, at 4 knots or whatever that is.

[Jamie]

Sure. But you're talking about a three round difference between Loveland and Fannin and a two round difference between Warren. I think that's where he belongs.

[Adam]

When was the last time a second year tight end lived up to his draft adp?

[Dave]

I don't think we can say that.

[Jamie]

With Brock Bowers the last time, but.

[Dave]

He did average over 14 PPR points per game this past year.

[Adam]

Did you say McBride?

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Probably wasn't even drafted.

[Dave]

No. McBride's. Well, McBride's second year he averaged about the same as his rookie year. He just finished really strong.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Dave]

I think by that metric if you just cut out the first seven games of his second year. Yeah. He lived up to expectations. No question asked. No questions asked.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Adam]

I'm just saying Brock Bowers didn't. Kyle Pitts certainly didn't. Sam Laporta didn't. It's not that many. We haven't had that many good rookie tight ends. But second year tight ends just little, little word of.

[Dave]

It's true. We're gonna have to weed through that group and. Well, and there will be things that happen. You know, if the Browns make enough big splashes in the off season then I don't know if Fannin's gonna be. I don't know if I'll be as excited about Fannin, but that's a, that's. I almost feel like that's a long shot.

[Jamie]

I think it's also so much. It's also we. We're talking about the rookie tight ends that were great and then they disappointed in year two. Usually the year two tight ends are guys that were. Showed some promise in year one that weren't great.

[Dave]

Right. Like McBride was. He was okay as a rookie and then his second year he broke out. Yeah.

[Adam]

All right, you want to run through your teams real quick. Jamie, you had the second pick.

[Jamie]

Go for it. Yeah. Waited on quarterback. So it didn't take Matthew Stafford until my second last pick I believe it was. But Bijan Robinson and Chase Brown at running back thrilled about that. The rest of the running back core is Zach Charbonnet and Ramandre Stevenson and then Devin Neal. I was really thrilled to get him as late as I did. He could be the starting running back for the Saints next season. But Charbonnet I think could could be the lead running back for the Seahawks if they let Ken Walker go. He's going to be one of my favorite breakout candidates at this portion of the process. We'll see what the draft and free agency bring, but I think Charbonnet is headed in the right direction. Receivers, you know, a lot of upside but a lot of question marks outside of A.J. brown. But if Adam has A.J. brown going to the Bills that may make you feel better or worse. But Marvin Harrison, look, he's gotta hopefully stay healthy and I, I think could be an absolute monster next year with a better quarterback as we saw which Kobe Brissette did for him at in a couple games and certainly did for Michael Wilson, Ameca Buka, you know, solid rookie season at the start. Hopefully better body of work. We'll see what the Bucks receiving core looks like. But as I said I, I don't know where Wanda Robbins is going to play. If he's the, the second option on the Giants. I think that's great value for where I got him but could still be a similar type of player. I would probably downgrade him a little bit, but a similar type of player is what we saw this year in the right offense. And then as I said I was just taking some, you know, flyers on guys Jamari, DK and Kyle Williams in particular. DK could be the, you know, I would guess top three receiver for the Titans, maybe number one. I think that'd be disappointing for Tennessee if that's their off season but had some great moments in his rookie campaign and Kyle Williams I think is going to take a step forward with the Patriots depending on what they do with Stefan Diggs and the rest of the receiving court but excited about those two guys at that cost. And then Tyler Warren was just to me an incredible value pick for where I was able to get him. But love the running backs, very happy with the quarterback, love the tight end and you know, hopefully the receiving core is good enough to, to get me by.

[Adam]

All right, just to recap, Jamie's team picking second in a 12 team 3 receiver PPR league. He will be starting Matthew Stafford at Quarterback Chase Brown and Bijan Robinson at running back.

[Dave]

A.J.

[Adam]

Brown, Ameca Abuka, Marvin Harrison Jr. At wide receiver, Zach Charbonnet at flex, Tyler Warren at tight end. I had the seventh pick, seventh pick. I had the seventh pick and I got two of my top eight players. I think I had Hampton top eight. So I had HN in round one and Hampton around two. So no wide receivers with my first two picks. Then I went Higgins and Sutton and you know, I. I guess I could have gone with a younger, kind of less proven guy certainly than Sutton. But I think those guys are fairly safe, Higgins and Sutton. And they also have upside. Not like top five upside, though. And then I went with Joe Burrow, who I love, you know that. And Romo Dunesay is my number three receiver who I took in round six. Yeah, I don't love the Laporta pick in round seven, but I didn't want to be crappy at tight end. Woody Marks, my 8th round pick, nobody seemed to want him. And so my starting Lineup is Burrow, H.N. hampton, Higgins, Sutton, Odunze, Laporta, and right now, Woody Marks as my flex. I hate. My bench sucks. I have Tyrone Tracy, I have Jalen Wright to back up Achan and Josh Downs, Troy Franklin, Trey Harris and Breton. Strange just to take another shot at a tight end in case the Port is not ready.

[Jamie]

There you go.

[Dave]

The nice thing about drafting now is that we didn't take a single rookie and there will be a lot of rookies that you can take and other players that end up in good opportunities that'll make you feel better about your bench six months from now.

[Adam]

Yeah. Someone commenting that Woody Marks in round eight is pretty good.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Yeah. I was a little surprised to see him go. He went after Camara, Trey Benson and right just before Blake Corum. So he hasn't really run the ball that well. But we'll see. He's got. He's got time to prove he's got at least one more game to. To prove himself. Okay, Dave, you had the 11th pick and go for it.

[Dave]

Jonathan Taylor was my first round pick. And then I didn't take a running back for a little while. I went hero RB Rashi Rice at 202. I took Tedro and McMillan in late round three, Jameson Williams in round four. So I love my top three receivers. That would be Rice, McMillan and Jameson Williams. Round five was Harold Fannin. Because I agree with you, Adam, I want to have one of those top six. If Tucker Craft is healthy, then I would include him. So then it would be top seven tight ends. I don't know if I want to root around with those late round tight ends, at least not at this point. We'll see if anybody emerges from that late round group, but I want to try and get one of those good tight ends and Fannin was super consistent, especially for a rookie in Cleveland. I took Kenneth Walker in round six and if I could do it over again I might actually take Charbonnet because of what Jamie said. Charbonnet, we know he's going to be in Seattle. He could very easily be the 1A and there's no question about it, he'll be in a contract year. Whereas Ken Walker is set to walk from Seattle. Will he end up in a spot where he'll be a workhorse? That's a double edged sword. It'd be great because he'll get a bunch of opportunities. But we've seen him when he's had a big workload before. He doesn't last. But getting Ken Walker in round six felt okay. I felt good about getting Tyreek Hill in late round seven. And yes Adam, you're right. You don't want to go and spend a bunch of picks on on players that are coming back from serious injuries. And we don't know if Tyree Kill, hey, we don't know what team he's going to be on, who's going to be throwing him the quarterback and we also don't know how healthy he'll be. But if he's any semblance of what he used to be, this is a steal. So I feel great about Tyree Kill there and he's my fourth receiver. I focus on running backs after this. So Jakori, Crosby, Merritt in round eight Bacial Tune in round nine. If things break right in Jacksonville he could be their lead running back. Of course there's no chance of getting him in round nine. If that happens by the time we get to August. Jonathan Brooks is a name we have not said on this show in like seven months. But he, he apparently is set to participate in OTAs for Carolina and he has been diligently working to come back from his injuries. As far as round 10 picks go, I don't have a problem with getting a high upside running back like this, especially if Rico Dowdle is not going to get resigned. So if his only competition is going to be Chuba Hubbard, then this just it makes sense. Maybe by the time we get to August or September we're talking about him as a round six pick. Who knows, maybe higher. Jaden Blue in round 11. Waiting on quarterback. We talked about how that's going to be a part of my strategy this year. I got Justin Herbert in round 12, and then Isaiah likely is set to be a free agent, so maybe he lands in a good spot. I took him to be a backup tight end around 13. Eric IO Manor, round 14. In case he's a top two or three target getter for the Titans.

[Adam]

Dave's starting lineup will be Justin Herbert, Jonathan Taylor and Ken Walker, rasheed rice, Tedro McMillan and Jameson Williams, Harold Fannin Jr. And then maybe Tyree Kill or Jonathan Brooks or Jacori Krosky, Merritt or Basil Tutin or Ellic IO Manor.

[Dave]

Can I give a quick stat on Justin Herbert? Yeah, because a lot of people are going to see that and go, ew, Chris, they're a terrible quarterback. Well, number one, late round pick. If he ends up striking out, so be it. I'll find another quarterback off the waiver wire. Number two, small sample size, but in four games with Joe Alt playing a lot for the Chargers, Justin Herbert averaged 26.2 fantasy points per game. That includes two games with over 31 fantasy points per game, one of which came against the much ballyhooed Minnesota Vikings defense. And Joe Alt will be back, hopefully. Fingers crossed. Rashad Slater will be back. Fingers crossed. The Chargers can improve their depth on the offensive line. I. I think their defense is still going to be pretty good, but it's still going to be an offense that I would like to target because I don't want to suspect that the offensive line will be horrible again. It would be, what, the third year in a row that they go through horrible times with their offensive line? Maybe, but I, I don't mind betting on Chargers players when it doesn't take major draft capital.

[Adam]

And there's one last guy I wanted to mention. I had him in my queue for three or four rounds and I did not take him. And I was. I was going to probably take. With my next pick. It was J.K. dobbins. He went with the 9th pick of round 11. Still only 27 years old, and he might actually be back. He said he might play if they, you know, make the Super Bowl. He'll be back for that. He said he might be able to come back before the super bowl, which means they only have to win one game. We might see Jake. Hey, he might. He might play in the divisional round. I don't even know. But Dobbins has won the starting job two years in a row, and we didn't think he would.

[Dave]

Played on two different teams.

[Adam]

Yeah, played pretty well, is only 27 years old. He's a, he's a name out there that just really. Oh, he's interesting, all right.

[Dave]

Yeah, it's another player who no one's going to want to take with an early middle pick, but absolutely is worth the risk when you get to round six, Round seven, Round eight. But it just depends on his situation and if he ends up, you know, let's, let's be optimistic that he comes back and he plays in two games for Denver. He'll go into the off season relatively healthy. That would be great for him.

[Adam]

He could crush R.J. harvey's value.

[Dave]

We'll see. Yeah, he could.

[Adam]

Okay, thank you very much, everybody. We will talk to you tomorrow with a shorter episode, I think, and a preview of wild card weekend. Six games for you. Hopefully some good ones there. Talk to you soon. Paramount Podcasts in the UEFA Champions League.

[Dave]

Every moment is a story. Paris Sanjama have won the Champions League and every great story needs an audience feel. Every match, every goal. Would you believe this? From the best clubs, Real Madrid Strike. And the biggest stars. This is the world's best soccer momentous and iconic. The UEFA Champions League Stream every match live exclusively on Paramount. Plus.